joining me today msnbc contributor and huffington post political editor sam stein. nbc news political analyst former pennsylvania governor and current governor of "now" ed rendell. the "new york times" correspondent jody can'tor and msnbc political analyst jonathan altar of bloomberg view. in 2008 a president was elected with the hope of finding common ground in a charged partisan political climate. >> kevin mccarthy told the top political leaders, we have to challenge them on every single bill. a pledge to obstruct that would define the gop for the next four years. >> four years later budget chair

and failed vice presidentialal candidate paul ryan isn't quite what to say about it, but he isn't extend aing bouquet of olive branches. >> when we see an opening, however small we should take it, if we want to promote conservativism, we'll need to use every tool at our disposal. sometimes we will have to reject the president's proposals. that time might come more than once. sometimes we'll have to make them better. >> jonathan martin writes today in politico top gop officials are calling for a more strategic mix of opposition and accommodation. exactly where that accommodation exists remains a mystery. for every suggestion of compromise, there is a doubling down on principle. that, i believe, is how we'll achieve republican renewal.

>> as president obama told the new republic this weekend, until republicans feel that there's a real price to pay for them just saying no and being ob strkzist, you'll probably see at least a number of them arguing that we should keep on doing it and facing perhaps another four years of stonewalling opposition. the president may be taking at least one tip from his predecessor. >> fool me once, shame on -- shame on you. fool me -- you can't get fooled again. >> yet -- and, yet, today a ray of hope, possibly. a day before president obama heads to las vegas to outline a proposal for imgrigs reform, democratic and republican senators will announce an immigration fix they aim to sell to both sides of the aisle. the plan includes a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented workers along side a provision for stricter border security. jon mccain an architect of the proposal underscored the urgency in getting something done, especially for his own party.

>> how can you convince republicans about the path to citizenship? >> well, look, i'll give you some straight talk. look at the last election. look at the last election. we are losing dramatically the hispanic vote. >> immigration reform made sure that compromise is possible, but the question for the next four years is whether it will be the exception or the rule. i think i actually know the answer to that question. governor rendell, lightning didn't strike john mccain when he admitted his own party had a problem. there seems to be some truth talking, some movement towards compromise. are you optimistic about this? >> well, first of all, i'm glad senator mccain said what he did because we don't want the republicans to get any credit for having a moral -- they're doing this because they can read election returns, and they've got to fwet this issue at least beyond them. they have to understand there's a price to pay.

do they pay the price if they're obstructionist on 100% background check? do they pay the price if they're obstructionist on high capacity magazines in they have to make that decision. on the fiscal cliff themselves, do they pay the price if they don't do something that is commonsense and a workable approach to debt? energy. all these things. we like wee winding tape to 2007 and -- george w. bush is really -- that tape speaks for itself. gornl bush did in 2007 introduce immigration reform that went basically nowhere. he made personal calls to members of his own party to get it passed. only 12 of the 49 republican senators voted for it. that was when republicans believed in climate change, when they had not started talking about legitimate rape. the republican party is in a distinctly different place. my question is marco rubio is

out there with his plan. there's a sort of general circling of the wagon, but practically speaking in washington, is a house republican caucus going to vote -- move forward legislation that offers a path to citizen shi? >> it's a great question. you want to see the video game ber moving simultaneously, but i think people should be heartened by what happened today. there was a rush to put a face on immigration reform. you don't rush to back something that you think is going down in flames. you want to be associated with it. the fact that the senators jumped ahead of the president on this is a good sign, and, you know, john mccain knows this very well. he knows it firsthand. he in 2008 had to abandon some of the positions in order to win the republican primary. it cost him dearly. he is a living embodiment. to your point about whether it's good or not that they had a moral enlightenment.

tloo whether they actually did. >> who cares? this is called democracy, and the fact that more voters now want you to do something is part of the democratic process. >> i'll tell you who cares. i actually think latino voters. >> marco rubio says the best thing for our country is to deal with this in a humane and responsible way to insure this never happens again. we can't round up millions of people to deport them, but we can't fix our immigration system if we provide snent es for people to come here illegally. >> i was reminded of rick perry when he talked about having a heart and cast this in an emotional framework. he was derided by members of his own party, but here's a rising star of the republican party saying basically the same thing, making an emother-in-law argument for not separating people and understanding the things they contribute to the american economy and society. if the republicans hold up the legislation, is it enough for the republicans that they have spokes people like marco rubio out there? does that build enough of a tent for hispanics to come in?

>> not if they have a bill. latinos are clear on this. no bill, no support. rubio talked about it being a piecemeal. it has to be aim comprehensive large package, but i think they're going to get there, and the main reason is not just the election returns and 71% that obama got of latino voters. it's that business is for this. even in the republican districts that don't care about the votes that obama got. they do care about what their local business leaders think, and they want a bill. i think actually this is going to be quite a bit easier than a lot of people think. >> business is -- >> i never thought i would call jonathan naive. >> i know, but what's happened -- >> what's the difference now? >> because -- >> he didn't listen for half a

decade. >> here's the difference. >> nativism, going back to the know nothing party of the 1850s, which was founded on opposition to immigration nativism waxes and wames, in part because that economy in the united states led to many fewer border crossings over the mexican border. >> you saw it immediately after the -- you saw talk radio was open to the prospects. sean hannity talked about it openly. it was a huge hello. >> when grover norquist heard that sean hannity -- he happened to be with norquist. he thought this was this huge deal. he, interestingly, has been

pro-immigration. >> it is a huge deal. >> he was like looking at it like when -- this is an obscure reference, like arthur vandenberg became an internationalist huge deal in american foreign policy in the late 1940s. if -- >> like when -- >> if there are two people that would get it. if this is a real deal, what you say, with talk radio -- >> i think it is. >> moving on this issue, and i think the bill -- >> let's also keep in mind that the democrats are trying to turn texas blue. there is work afoot to capitalize on the demographic question here. >> jody, this is my question. i feel like we're -- this is a big moment for the republican party in terms of brand and also

policy. i haut this was an incredible moment when jim demint is asked about the comments that colin powell made about a dark vein of intolerance, the racism within the republican party, and also republican comments on legitimate rape and this is how jim demint, who is now president or incoming president of the heritage foundation, presumably a leading voice among conservatives, this is his answer. >> do you regret some of the comments about abortion, about rape. again, what colin powell were vailed racist comments from the party. >> david, the fact that we are losing over 3,000 unborn children a day is an important issue, but republicans, or conservatives, should not engage in a debate about exceptions for abortion when the other side will not even agree that we have a real people, a real human being. >> just quickly summarizing that, are you worried about racism in the party or -- answer, there are 3,000 abortions every day. >> it is a fascinating example

of where the republican party does and doesn't seem to be. the contrast between four years ago and now is so striking, as you said, at the top of the segment. there's such a unified strategy at the beginning. oppose everything. now, you know, i really appreciated that jonathan martin piece in politico, but i felt like he was working so hard to make sense of what the republican -- >> what their judgment was. as they presumably are. >> it's actually very hard to tell. look at the difference between that and what marco rubio said. there is not one consistent strategy. remember a few years ago president obama was boxed in by immigration. he had put the enforcement into effect, but he hadn't sort of made the system more gentle, more welcoming. politically he was in a bad spot with latino voters. a ton of pressure. now the funny thing about the situation is that politically, just politically, this is a win for him either way. >> even the dream act was there. there was a question as to what was going to happen with that.

now through executive order he is somer assaulting. >> you have bobby jindahl saying we can't be the stupid party anymore. who wins out? >> they're all wrong. they're talking about the problem with the party -- the problem with the party is policy. seven days after the election, the ohio legislature, i assume with the blessing of governor kasich passes -- defeated in mississippi. i mean, what were they thinking? what are they thinking? i think they've got to look at themselves and say we've got to control the tea party aspect of this party. we've got to get back to taking positions that ordinary americans agree with. it's going to be interesting and fascinating to me what the house republicans do on background checks and high capacity magazines. then you will see whether this party is ready to go forward. if they oppose either of those,

i think they're -- >> that's so -- that's a limited snanding of what republicans can do. those are both agenda items of the president. how do they get back to that? they need something to be pro active about. you've been hearing more and more where top leaders and sort of intellectual leaders in the party say they need to be more than just budget sheets or just the party -- >> vision. >> we have to have policies that affect the poor and left them out of poverty that improve our indication system. i suspect -- i'm not sure where it's going to come, but i suspect that there's going to be a real intellectual in the republican ranks to find a platform that's beyond just cutting and entitlement reform, and it's something they can latch on to and say, okay, this is a way to resolve some of the major social and political issues of our time. zoo don't last that long on the

stage by not running for president. she essentially was dooming herself with the footnote now in american history who is not all that bright. >> firm grasp of english syntax and grammar would help if you intend on being a leader in this country. >> on twitter i have a lot of the misspellingings. as the five suspects accused of planning the 9/11 attacks appear in a guantanamo courtroom questions loom regarding the administration's national security policy. we'll talk about the role of the military tribunal and drone strikes 12 years later when the aclu joins us next on "now." hey, buddy? oh, hey, flo. you want to see something cool? snapshot, from progressive. my insurance company told me not to talk to people like you. you always do what they tell you? no...

try it, and see what your good driving can save you. you don't even have to switch. unless you're scared. i'm not scared, it's... you know we can still see you. no, you can't. pretty sure we can... try snapshot today -- no pressure.

a four-day pre-trial hearing begins today in guantanamo bay, cuba, for self-proclaimed terror mastermind, call he'd shake mohammed and four other men accused of planning the 9/11 attacks. the hearing begins in a disagreement between the pentagon and the chief prosecutor in the case regarding the legality of some of the charges. attempts by the u.s. government to legitimatize these military tribunals have been complicated by the fact that the only two convictions of guantanamo bay prisoners via tribunals have been reversed by civilian appeals courts. the administration is also facing heat over its continued reliance on drone strikes. according to figures compiled by the london-based bureau of investigative journalism, the u.s. has conducted 362 drone strikes in pakistan since 2004 with 128 in 2010 alone. the program's covert nature has alarmed civil rights activists and the human rights council has now launched an investigation into drone attacks connected to

civilian casualties. joining us now to discuss the war on terror is the director of the aclu, national security project, hannah. thanks for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> this is a conversation that i think gradually is taking more of a role on center stage. especially with the appointment of john brennan and as we look at john kerry and chuck hagel. in terms of u.s. national security and foreign policy, the get month trials, however, we -- there was a lot of discussion, a lot of hub bub when they were going to be in new york, but here they are beginning in guantanamo bay, and there is very little discussion about the fact that they are happening there. you guys have challenged the sort of legitimacy of these. the nation writes today "at guantanamo the government is still making up the law as it goes along. the military commissions are just one piece of a larger disturbing trend towards centralized presidential power with virtually no oversight or transparency. your thoughts on that? >> well, the problem both with

guantanamo and with targeted killing is we have rule of law violations and also we have national security problems continuing when we keep guantanamo open and use targeted drone killings as a centerpiece of our foreign policy. so let's talk about guantanamo. the military commissions are dogged today by the same issues that hang as a cloud over them from their beginning. skresy, including skresy about the use of torture, and ledgement si about the charges that have been brought in the commissions. ledgement si questions that would never arise in federal court where the crimes that have been charged are legitimate federal crimes, but do arise when you are talking about charging them as war crimes. so a couple of the issues that are going to arise over the course of this week are how secret -- how skresy rules are prevent says defense lawyers from doing their job from being able to communicate with each

other and with their clients, and whether or not the judge will grant a defense request to preserve the cia black sites at which the defendants were tortured overseas. the government says it's not necessary. the reasons the government thinks that's not necessary are secret. they're claiming it's classified, and it's withheld from the public. >> i want to bring in our panel here. sam. the president is obviously at a constitutional law professor, and we have talked on this show about how little discussion there has been from the left on issues of national security given the lengths and the breadth, the scope of secret si surrounding the president's national security apparatus. i do want to bring in the drone piece. kerry alluded to the use of drones in u.s. foreign policy this his hearing. >> president obama and every one of us here knows that american foreign policy is not defined by drones and deployments alone.

we cannot allow the extraordinary good we do to be eclipsed by the role we have had to play since september 11th. >> what -- sorry. a, i was sort of confused. you know, what does that mean? is that a tacit -- is that the administration admitting that they would like to use fewer drones, that they are going to be more diligent, they are crafting what is known as a drone playbook right now, which surprised me given the fact that it is the year 2013. these have been going on for -- since 2004. >> there's clearly not enough information on this program, nor the legality of it, nor what the impacts are. i would like to see someone do a comprehensive review to see how effective it is in terms of discouraging versus encouraging terrorism.

these are people hardened by battle, and so part of that is a belief that if you can do it through these mechanized planes dropping targeted bombs then you protect the soldier's life and having to go into pakistan and do it yourself. maybe the only time where chuck hagel was asked about the system, and he is in favor of it. >> let's talk about the aclu and the administration's drone program. we know that the human -- human rights council is investigating our use of drones many civilian casualties. in terms of having any teeth on the issue, it would seem this is more for process than actual product, but your read on that?

>> well, drone strikes are incredibly controversial both in countries in which they're carried out and more generally abroad. that's because virtually no other country agrees with the authority the government is claiming, which is the ability to declare people, enemies of the state and to kill them far from any battlefield without providing any transparency to the rules that are being used, any transparency into the civilian bystander casualties that have occurred. and accountability for any wrong doing. so what happens when there isn't domestic transparency and accountability is that international mechanisms come into play, international pressure grows because the united states is setting a precedent for other countries and international actors are concerned that other countries are not following. now, what we've been trying to do is seek both transparency and accountability at home. here the government takes the position that only what it selectively discloses in a

campaign of disclosures that are one-sided is what will go. the government tells the court that it can't even confirm or deny that the cia carries out targeted killing, which if it's a secret, is the worst kept secret in the world. the government also says in our lawsuit challenging the killings of three american citizens, that not only can the u.s. government kill its own citizens in secret, it does not have to account to an american court for violations -- alleged violations of constitutional law. that undermines legitimacy. it undermines transparency and accountability. it is a national security problem because you cannot kill our way out of the threat of terrorism, and we are creating, say national security experts, more enemies than we are killing as a result of this policy. >> there is definitely a flip side to the argument. thank you, as always. we will certainly be calling upon your expertise in the

coming weeks. >> thanks for having me. >> coming up, the senate is finally set to vote today on a multibillion dollar relief package for hurricane sandy, but will republicans sand bag disaster aid in the name of fiscal purity? we will look into the eye of the gop storm just ahead. ♪ i'd like to thank eating right, whole grain, multigrain cheerios! mom, are those my jeans? [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios

i worked a patrol unit for 17 years in the city of baltimore. when i first started experiencing the pain, it's hard to describe because you have a numbness but yet you have the pain like thousands of needles sticking in your foot. it was progressively getting worse,

and at that point, i knew i had to do something. when i went back to my health care professional, that's when she suggested the lyrica. once i started taking the lyrica, the pain started subsiding. [ male announcer ] it's known that diabetes damages nerves. lyrica is fda approved to treat diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is not for everyone. it may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, changes in eye sight including blurry vision, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or skin sores from diabetes. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain, and swelling of hands, legs, and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who've had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. ask your doctor about lyrica today. it's specific treatment for diabetic nerve pain. to hear more of terry's story, visit lyrica.com.

and these come together, one thing you can depend on is that these will come together. delicious and wholesome. some combinations were just meant to be. tomato soup from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. nothing says unity like intraparty squabbling over disaster relief. will the gop sink daep deeper into the abyss? we will discuss next on "now."

[ thunder crashes ] [ female announcer ] some people like to pretend a flood could never happen to them. and that their homeowners insurance protects them. [ thunder crashes ] it doesn't. stop pretending. only flood insurance covers floods. ♪ visit floodsmart.gov/pretend to learn your risk.

almost three months after

hurricane sandy tore through the northeast, the senate will finally vote this afternoon to pass the $50 billion hurricane aid package already passed by the house. the vote can't come soon enough for the residents affected by the storm, and for politicians who are furious about congress's dereliction of duty. emergency new jersey governor chris christie was the first to cry foul. >> there's only one brup to blame for the continued suffering of these innocent victims, the house majority and their speaker, john boehner. >> that tyrade led to house republican leaders to pass a sandy relief bill with little thanks to their own party. over three-quarters of republicans voted no. the tea partier mike lee has introduced an amendment to the senate bill to demand a disaster aid be offset by spending cuts. the conservative lub for growth piled on the pressure urging republicans to vote no and offering a dire warning that their decision would be reflected on the club's dreaded 2013 congressional score card.

even the power hour emergency new jersey g proved -- >> we have potentially really great candidates. we don't need pretenders. we don't need frauds like chris christie, and that's exactly what he is. any governor can help his state if he gets tens of billions of dollars from the federal government, but we need a real leader in this nation, want this joke. >> nor could chris christie escape a scolding from senator ran paul. >> i think the over the top give me my money kind of stuff, i want all $60 billion now or i'm going to throw a tantrum, that won't play well in a republican primary. we realize the whole idea is even for disaster funds, most republicans think it should be paid for. >> jonathan, resident of new jersey, i think something that has been lost to much of the

country is that 346,000 homes were damaged or destroyed during sandy. there are 41,000 people still displaced from their homes. 48% of new jersey suffered damage. yet, when the governor goes out there and doesn't minsz words by saying we need to pass this now, and the people that are holding it up should be ashamed of themselves, gets some serious fire from his own party. wait until kentucky gets hit by a tornado, and ran paul is suddenly on his knees begging washington. look what the republicans in the new jersey delegation were saying. chris smith, very, very conservative guy, and peter king, conservative congressman. they were adamant about this. it's when it happens to you that suddenly you realize the federal government must step in, the state, contrary to mark levinson, can't conceivably handle this on their own. this is representative of a

failure of moral imagination on the part of republicans. they can't imagine it happen to them. it's their lack of empathy gene. it really reflects a narrowness on their part that's way out of step with where the public is. it's tremendous hypocrisy because when -- they formally granted disaster aid without paying for it. i thought the republicans in the house had some ability when they said it was porked up in the senate. if it was porked up in the senate, the easy thing is strip it and send it back, but approve the basic package. get rid of the park and approve the basic package. >> the washington post headline reads chris christie is playing with fire. this is aaron blake. i think that governor christie in his comments has made it plainly clear he has no intention of pursuing a higher office in the republican party. boom. is that -- i mean, really? >> i'm hesitant to view everything from a lens of political trajectory and 2016.

at a primal level this is a governor trying to take care of people in desperate need. if government is not there for disaster relief and for national security, then what is it there for? the whole notion of coming together, of having a collective sense of purpose is exhibited in things like disaster relief, and, you know, there's a role for governors to play without looking four years down the road in helping people out. i thought this was a sad example. >> i don't know that we want to declare chris christie totally free of political calculation in this, but -- >> we don't have to talk about it. in terms of 2016, though, he is the governor of the state of new jersey. >> does he intend on being the leader in the party is the more -- >> it's also interesting politically from the other angle, which is how it fits in with the general democratic strategy. if part of what democrats want to do is portrait them as unempathetic, uncaring, to strip moderate republicans, many of whom live in the northeast, away from the republican party, this plays into that rather well.

if only a clinton had been in the office. let's hear that sound. >> look, if we had clinton in president, if we had erskine bowls, or president of the united states, i think we would have fixed this fiscal mess by now. that's not the kind of press si we're dealing with right now. >> the first question -- the first question there is which clinton governor? which clinton is he talking about? hillary or bill? >> chelsea. >> and is that an ironic statement gin as i don't know jonathan alter pointed out, this is a dude that basically nails the nails in the coffin on erskine bowles. >> hypocrisy reigns. this is true. he is talking about bill clinton, and is he talking about erskine bowles as chief of staff to bill clinton. you are absolutely right. paul ryan could have delivered erskine bowles and could have made it difficult for the

president to walk away, but he gave the president -- >> this is a weird obsession with trying to, like, play the clintons off of the obamas, and republicans love doing this. the idea that they would have been, you know, kind to bill clinton or hillary clinton had they been president is laughable. >> all the guys saying this, so many of them voted. for impeachment. he would have solved the debt kritsdz. >> they'll be all over him. >> in 2008 hillary knew that, and she used to hammer obama on this. she would say they're not going to be nice to you just because you talk about post partisanship. they're going to be cruel and mean just like they were to my husband. maybe she would have understand it better. >> you saw this during the campaign. this attempt by the republican party to latch on to the coattails of the clinton legacy, right? remember when mitt romney kept saying it was so great when bill clinton was president. you do realize that bill clinton is stumping for president obama. >> it made sense a few more years ago than now. when president obama was less popular, before he had won re-election, you could use

hillary clinton as a piece more easily. the poor president is still regularly criticized for not as being soberable as bill clinton. he has to live with that forever. given that the obama story is basically over as far as presidential elections go and that the clinton one is still continuing, i'm not sure how much sense it makes. >> potentially for another four years. that is a perfect segue as we end this block to the interview that the president sat down with hillary clinton last night wroosh your read on the dynamic between those two people at this point in time? >> first of all, i really recommend watching it, because it's almost like performance art. it's not that they said anything that we haven't really heard before. watching them go from being the little awkward in the beginning of the interview to settling in more and getting to the sort of warm chumminess that i don't think we've really seen them telegraph before in public. the most interesting line to me is that they agreed vihamently that the 2008 primary battle had

been much easier to get over for their spouses than it was for them, so it was essentially hillary clinton and barack obama saying michelle obama and bill clinton had a much bigger problem with this whole thing than we did. >> they took it personally. well, we're going to see president obama stumping for hillary clinton in 2016? governor rendell? >> well, sure. if hillary runs, as much as i like joe biden, and i think joe has done a terrific job as vice president, you can't stand in the way of history. if hillary runs, she's going to be the nominee, and president obama is going to stump hard for her because really you do need the 12 years to shape all the policy direction that you wanted to achieve, so i think president obama is going to be very big advocate for hillary. >> that will be such poetic symmetry. >> well, hillary did a good job for him in the general. >> and, look, bill helped out a lot in the last race. i think that that is not lost on -- >> they don't disagree on very much. one of the interesting things they said is in 2008 they each

had to stretch and reach to come up with something that they didn't -- >> there's one big area. anybody know? >> the individual mandate. >> the individual mandate. >> hillary and obama was against it. >> yeah. >> that was a stretch. declaring a state of emergency as deadly violence erupts across the country. we'll get a live update from cairo just ahead. this is so sick! i can't believe your mom let you take her car out. this is awesome! whoooo! you're crazy. go faster! go faster! go faster! go faster! no! stop...stop... (mom) i raised my son to be careful... hi, sweetie. hi, mom. (mom) but just to be safe... i got a subaru. (announcer) love. it's what makes a subaru a subaru.

so if ydead battery,t tire, need a tow or lock your keys in the car, geico's emergency roadside assistance is there 24/7. oh dear, i got a flat tire. hmmm. uh... yeah, can you find a take where it's a bit more dramatic on that last line, yeah? yeah i got it right here. someone help me!!! i have a flat tire!!! well it's good... good for me. what do you think? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. >> in his 60 minute sitdown along side president clinton president obama defended his administration's record in the middle east, particularly its role on fostering change in egypt. >> when it comes to egypt, i think had it not been for the leadership we showed, you might have seen a different outcome

there, but also understanding that we do nobody a service when we leap before we look. where we, you know, take on things without having thought through all the consequences of it. >> how will the white house respond to the latest unwrest in egypt? we will ask amman when he joins us live from cairo next. at optionsxpress we're all about options trading. we create easy-to-use, powerful trading tools for all. look at these streaming charts! they're totally customizable and they let you visualize what might happen next. that's genius!

we knew you needed a platform that could really help you elevate your trading. so we built it. chances of making this? it's a lot easier to find out if a trade is potentially profitable. just use our trade & probability calculator and there it is. for all the reasons you trade options - from income to risk management to diversification - you'll have the tools to get it done. strategies. chains. positions. we put 'em all on one screen! could we make placing a trade any easier? mmmm...could we? around here, options are everything. yes mom, i'll place a long call to you tomorrow. i promise. open an account today and get a free 13-month eibd™ subscription when you call 1-888-280-0159 now. optionsxpress by charles schwab. i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she?

[ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

as deadly protests in egypt continue for a fifth day mohammed morsi has declared a state of emergency and a curfew for three cities engulfed in violence giving the police authority to make arrests at will in an erie reminder of the mubarak ear wra. the protests began last thursday just before the second

anniversary of the uprising that brought morsi to power and the intensified after a court sentenced 21 soccer fans to death for their role in a riot last year. nearly 50 people have died since the protests began. joining us now from cairo is nbc news foreign correspondent ahman mojadin. this is obviously want the first time there's been a state of emergency called since president morsi has taken power. what's your read on the situation? is this exetch lear of greater unrest inside the country? >> really it's a highlight of two important things. one, the security vacuum that now exists in egypt, but more importantly, the political climate that has this country divided. it's important to emphasize that since the revolution, police have really struggled to gain security foothold, and that's really evident now. the rioters and the protesters are easily able to overrun the police in many of these areas. that's why the military was deployed in port sayeed, and

that's where the president has declared a state of emergency. that's also going to be a great tremendous concern for human rights organizations and the political opposition in this country. the other track that i was talking about was that there is a political intransigence between opposition members, the protests, and the government. the government and president morsi believe they have a democratic mandate to govern. the constitution was passed with a majority. those pro-testing and the political opposition say that now mohammed morsi is trying to overrun the government and trying to push through his agenda at the expense of a more pluralistic and democratic egypt. >> amman, let's talk about the piece here, the riot and the massacre and the soccer. i think a lot of folks don't understand exactly what went down there. 74 people were killed at a soccer gam between port sayeed and cairo. op sfligs forces have said that wasn't just a sporting event gone very, very wrong, but there was an ulterior motive there.

can you explain that a little bit to us? >> reporter: sure. absolutely. we kind of have to go back to the event itself, which began last we're. it was a soccer game that was back in february of last we're. essentially what happened during the game, it was a very violent scene as riders clashed with one another and essentially killing 74 people. many people across egypt in a fact-finding commission found out that this was not a spontaneous outburst of sports violence. this was not just some fan on fan violence. they concluded that there was a conspiracy to attack the visiting fans, and it's important to emphasize that the team that was participating and their fans that were killed were those that were involved in the revolution. they are a group of youth activists that were at the forefront of the revolution, and it gave the conflict or the fight a political tinge to it. the resulting convictions that happened this past saturday concluded that 21 people, 21 defendants, were sentenced to death. now, the families of those 21 people are saying this is not

justice. that completely what happened on saturday was just a ad hoc trial, sham trial. that's why they took to the streets and clashed with police, and another 30 people in port sayeed were killed. it really highlights how everything in this country now has become political. even sporting matches or sporting events, but it also really sheds light into how the government here is really struggling in trying to just function on a very basic level. maintaining security at a soccer game and those that are arguing, no, there is something more sinister here. there is a counter revolutionary force working to undermine security and make those who participated in the revolution two years ago pay a very heavy price for ousting the former dictator. >> i want to bring in our panel really quick here, sam. we played some sound of the president talking about egypt along side his interview with hillary clinton. the question of foreign policy in a changing middle east is -- it's almost impossible to answer. this underscores that. here is egypt, which has played a big role in israel, dealing with hamas. now you have a government that

its own people are challenging the legitimacy of morsi. the state is basically on lockdown. how does the u.s. respond to that? how does the president craft coherent policy when the sands are shifting? >> what do we do with respect to other countries that want to go through the same kind of evolutionary track that egypt did? egypt is one of the most advanced of the countries. they had the structure to make something like this feasible or workable. the fact that they're in this pogts they are now is a real problem. if we start looking at what we should do visa vi syria or other countries going through this. i don't city council a coherence in the obama administration, which revolution they're support, but clearly i understand where the president and secretary clinton were coming from when they said we need to be very cautious when we decide what we're going to do next. >> just to pick up on your point, failed states are the great problem. >> yes.

no structure, no security. they create instability in whatever region they happen to be in. this is not about the middle east. it's about how do we moving forward deal with the problem of basically anarchy in many parts of the world. >> and before we let you go, i mean, we're also -- this is on the heels of hostage situations in algeria. increased activity by al qaeda. the question is where does the west look for leadership, and where is the leadership? >> that's a good question. it highlights how explosive a small isolated situation can have global implications. the three cities that president morsi has put under a state of emergency, they're all long the suez canal. one of the most important waterways for global interest, american naval vessels pass through the suez canal.

those three major cities are subject to state of emergency and it could pose a problem for the flow of so much of the global trade. that's why everything that happens in the middle east tends to have global implications. alex. >> thank you. stay safe. we will be sure to be following up with you in the days to come. and thank you to our panelists here in new york. sam stein, governor rendell, jody cantor, and jonathan alter. that is all for now. i'll see you back here tomorrow at noon eastern, 9:00 a.m. pacific, when i'm joined by obama money bunny, mother jones, darren corn, news week's megan mccartel. until then, log on to our facebook page for the "now" day in pictures, which terrifies me in concept. it's a behind the scenes look at the day in the life of the "now" team. facebook.com/now with alex. andrea mitchell reports is coming up next.

right now on andrea mitchell reports, finally a bipartisan path to citizenship for